Thug Love
by Kenza Valentine
Summary: 'Humanity's Gravest Thug' meets 'The One Worth A Hundred Bandits'. Together, they struggle to live despite the barriers that always stand against them. Sacrifices will be needed as well as loyalty. Sharing a similar dark past, the two begin understanding each other, caring for one another, until love has them trapped in its solid cell, waiting for their unknown fate. (Thug Life AU)
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Hello! This is a new RivaMika Multichapter/Thug Life AU I'll be working on, Hopefully you'll enjoy, this is just a prologue so it doesn't have much details yet and I know you'll probably have many questions which will be answered in the upcoming events. I wasn't going to write a prologue but my friend suggested me that I should do it so I did.

* * *

_**Prologue:**_

_Hide!_

_Run…_

_Survive._

_Fight._

Jumbled, familiar voices tickling her ear, awakening her trepidation, drugging every single bone in her recumbent body, and locking her in an enormous, bloody illusion. Her long, dark eyelashes fighting the heaviness of the air in a despairing endeavor to reveal the sable pupils diving in gleamy, grey irises reflecting a ruddy, clouded sky in them.

_Do you love rain, Mikasa?_

With a soundless heart throb translated into a resonant thunder, as if the audience clapping their hands, impressed by a singer's performance, so did the sky credit the thunder with the sound of raindrops plopping onto the unyielding ground. Her tremulous fingertips reaching up for a desperate, unattainable hope within each drop that infiltrated in between her fingers, her lips separating from one another to allow the slightest taste of water to sneak into her unsaturated, dry throat.

_What does it taste like…their blood?_

_Blood?  
_  
Her vision came clear to the echoing voice tolling her eardrum, disclosing a ghoulish scenery; the hanged cadavers of her mother and father above her sunken in their gore. The red stain tanning her shabby apparel, drawing stooping trails along her every exposed, sallow skin.

"M-Mom!…?" Feeling the viscosity in her lips as she spoke, her hand reached to sweep whatever liquid that was coating her mouth and as her eyes hovered down to it, all they caught was blood; as if someone drowned her in a blood pool. "N-No…" her body leaking an unstoppable red torrent. "W-Why am I bleeding?" She questioned doubtfully, uncertain of the source of all the blood her body was jettisoning to soon find herself losing her consciousness.

_Mikasa, it's alright. You're coming home with us, we're going to take care of you, protect you, your father and I._

"Home?" Her mother's voice called for her beyond her sluggishly hazed eyesight, "You…and father?"

_Don't! Don't go… Mikasa! I told you to wait for me, I promised to protect you, I promised to come back and never leave you again when that day comes._

"Promised me?" Questioning the alleged statement, her mind dove deep into her lost memories asking for an evidence, a proof… A _reason _that could keep her from leaving, convince her to stay still and wait for the voice owner.

_Remember the scarf, Mikasa. I swore to come back and wrap it around you one more time, trust me and wait… Just please, don't go yet._

"Eren,…" Her hand at last palpating the fabric around her neck, touching her so called _Last Hope _and eventually locking her grayish eyes again under her eyelids, gathering the last of her hijacked energy to shape a serene smile. "I'll wait for you." Reassuring both their doubts and enlivening their old promise, Mikasa whispered before giving up her senses and plunging into a profound sleep.

_I promise we'll meet sooner than you think, until then…take care of yourself, Mikasa._

* * *

The white shade that stood as a barrier between her eyes and the surroundings slowly vanishing yet revealing another barrier from above, a pallid, flawless ceiling that some raindrops found their access through it. Mikasa could feel a fabric covering the most parts of her body, a tenuous smell of food being cooked filled the air and reached her nose, her chest ached when she tried to inhale it and she hissed wrench, before the pain would get any easier, she realized how sore her whole body was, how agonizing it was to move her hand she gave up on doing it before she ever began.

"So you're finally awake." A rigid voice spoke to the raven haired, only few steps away from her. "How do you feel?"

"Where am I?" Was all she could ask regarding the state she was in, moving her jaw was painful yet it was probably the easiest thing to do for now. "Who are you?" Unable to recognize his voice, Mikasa had first to confirm whether she was safe or was she a hostage with some serial killer and the like.

"I'm not gonna say you're in my place, because we're not, and we better leave this cabin before the nightfall." The man appeared to wear a long, black, leather coat with black jeans, athletic shoes and bloody red sweater. One of his hands was wrapped in a bandage, and in his other hand, he was holding a plastic cup with chopsticks and walking in her direction to stand by her side. "You must be hungry, can you sit or should I help you with that?" The man seemed rather nice and that helped Mikasa relax in a way.

"Who are you?" She repeated her question, her mind speaking with insecurity and so it reflected on her question, he noticed of course.

"Levi," The answer was rather insufficient, "I found you in a…pathetic state two days ago and decided to help you." He added and the surprise on her face was impossible to hide.

"I…I've been asleep for two days?" Unconvinced, she asked, his nod got her astonished.

"You're pretty lucky that it didn't take you longer seeing how bad your injuries were." Noting the frown that was starting to convert her expression, he spoke in reinforcement. "Other people would have died."

"What happened to the kids?" All of a sudden she snapped a question, Levi shifted his weight to a chair he had placed near the bed where she was lying.

"So far, I only found you…there was no one else." He explained to her and meanwhile helped her lifting herself up to sit. "You were unconscious, I remember hearing some clutter at first, someone left you nearby, they were already gone when I found you." He told her all the details he could recall from two days ago, yet it didn't seem to satisfy her curiosity. "Eat this." He held the cup he was holding out to her and she could finally see what was in it. "I hope you like noodles, cause that's all I got here."

She didn't have to say a word, her stomach answered with a loud growl at both the sight and the smell of the noodles, embarrassed, she gazed away from him, she wouldn't complain after all, noodles were seeming like a deluxe dish in her eyes compared to what she was used to eat. "Thanks." Said the girl with a slight timidity before taking the cup from his hands.

"Hopefully you can move, because we'll have to leave once you're done having your meal." He spoke with his arms crossed and eyes watching her in amusement, it was funny how she was devouring the noodles, she must have been starving for so long, even before he found her that night.

Before she could swallow what was already in her mouth, she stared at him with puffed cheeks, her eyes questioning the reason of their leave before her lips spoke the words after one big swallow. "We?…Am I coming with you?"

"Do you have any plans? Any home to return to?" He asked with a bit of sarcasm and she narrowed her eyes at him. "It's dangerous to stay here anyway, I'm leaving with or without you. I've been here for almost two weeks and that's enough…I have to leave before they find this place." He added before leaving the chair and walking to prepare himself some noodles, since the ones he gave Mikasa were technically for him.

"You're…" Mikasa paused and placed the cup down, her eyes widening at what seemed like a sudden realization, "You're the gangster they've been talking about; Humanity's gravest thug…right?"

"I see you heard about me." His response was rather impassive and it was tapping her nerves. "Notice that I haven't even asked who you are, so maybe you would like to introduce yourself." Mikasa was now unsure of the status she was put in and wavered to say a single word. "Unless revealing my real identity killed what little security you were feeling with me." As if reading her mind, he spoke.

"Mikasa,…My name is Mikasa." She felt a sudden heaviness perching her chest, as if regretting telling him.

"Aren't you the girl they call 'The one worth hundred bandits'?" His statement snapped some confidence back to herself, at least he wasn't underestimating her. "You don't look like it though, I mean…seeing the condition you were in two days ago… You were hanging between death and life. Apparently you're not as strong as they say." Offended by his words, Mikasa swore under her breath and glared at his back, if it wasn't for all her bones aching, she'd have thrown the noodles cup at him.

"Some people say that if we ever work together…We're gonna take over the government." He was only getting her confused with each word he said. "I'd like to see where that would go." He admitted.

"I work alone." She stated with an uninterested tone.

"So do I, and I have to admit that it's boring sometimes, don't you think?" Suddenly, all the moments she had wished for someone's help flashed before her eyes, just like two days ago, surely she understands how important it is to have a companion, but her trust with people died long time ago and she could only rely on herself now.

"No, I always prefer being alone." She gave him a half honest answer and he smirked, shrugging his shoulders, he wasn't going to beg for her to join him. He was about to walk back to the chair and sit once his noodles were ready, but a suspicious noise near the cabin's door brought both their attention and they paused for a moment of silence.

"I thought you said you work alone…" Supposing that whoever was at the door was his partner, she said.

"And I wasn't lying." Proving her judgment wrong, Levi swiftly reached his hand under his coat and pulled out a knife, whoever found this place, either cops or a thug just like the two of them, he wasn't going to go easy on them.

* * *

"Alright, we're ready to move the body." A man with blond hair and moustache spoke as he stood near a cadaver of a man, his body had no scratches except for deep wound around his neck. With the sign given from the blond man, a Removal Service approached the body, ready to move it.

"Officer Smith, will you come take a look at this." A brown haired woman called out for the officer who was few steps away from her, he soon responded to her call and walked over to her.

"Yes, detective Zoe?" The officer spoke, waiting to hear what the detective had to say.

"There were two…He wasn't alone this time, one of them was obviously injured which explains all the bloodied cotton we found, as well as the two unfinished noodles' cups. I would have thought that his partner was the guy we found killed in here but he wasn't, since the only injury we found in his body was the wound of his neck which leads us to think that he escaped with someone who is injured, and most likely they won't be so far away from here." She explained her point and he nodded.

"What if he was the one injured? That means the body we found could be his partner." The officer posed his judgment but she couldn't help but shake her head in total disagreement.

"It was raining, right? As you can see… The man who was murdered obviously was outside, and according to the footprints he never walked into the cabin any further than the spot we found him in, we know our target is a clean-freak, look around you… The whole cabin is clean except for what little mud that the victim's shoes caused and that's only at the entrance. After all… the results of the examinations of the chopsticks we found will prove that the saliva belongs to two different people as well as the fingerprints… And the victim isn't one of them. Of course, we won't find his fingerprints because he never does leave them, perhaps because he was wearing gloves or the like…I'm sure they left in a rush so they didn't have time to wipe the chopsticks at least not his partner's." After all she said, the officer couldn't help a smile from forming on his lips.

"Let us wait to see, Hanji." He said and she chuckled, fixing her glasses.

"Very well, Erwin…You'll see that I'm right just like always." She spoke confidently. "I haven't even finished my explanations yet but ah! Let's wait and see, the results shouldn't take that long."

"If you were right, then hopefully we won't be late to catch the two of them before they have gotten so far, and if one of them was injured…That might cause them some obstructions, they will have to stop somewhere to rest, that should give us enough time to collect the needed evidences and find them….Find him." Erwin's voice seemed to have a kind of grudge while talking, Hanji reached her hand to his shoulder, patting it gently.

"But oh well, how many times were we so close from arresting him before? And we always failed, we can't be so sure this time won't turn out like the previous ones." She exhaled and pulled her hand off his shoulder. "We don't have anything to do here now, we should leave."

_There was no way he would let him escape this time, even if he had to stand against the rules, even if he had to do it alone._

TBC


	2. Chapter one: Change

**A/N: **Do you guys realize what time is it here? It's fucking 6:22 in the morning, I stayed up all night to finish this chapter wow. Gosh, yes it wasn't as long as I wanted it to be but yeah, here you go, enjoy, please do excuse the possible spelling mistakes because I haven't revised this yet. Also I would like to note that there's some AruAni in there so be careful, I'mma go sleep now so night.

* * *

"This is even _worse_ than what we thought it could be." Fixing her glasses and pulling them up against her nose, the light of the computer's screen was reflecting on them as well as a picture of Mikasa, Hanji's eyes spoke with concern behind the glasses she was wearing, her voice only transferring her fear into words.

"Them working together…The day we have feared has arrived." Erwin's severe statement blew a cold breeze into everyone's chest who were in the room, their eyes watching the screen that displayed the results of the fingerprints, only minimizing their chances on arresting their main target, to double the threats.

"Maybe we should retrea-"

"_No!_" Before Hanji could even finish the word Erwin refused to hear for so long now, he stopped her, prevented her from saying it. He will _not_ admit defeat, not yet, not ever. "It's still too early to assume anything, how do we know he isn't keeping her as a hostage? They might not be working together…"

"Excuse my lack of knowledge with the case but I would like to tell my thoughts," A blond, young man sitting in front of the computer said, seeming to be the fingerprint analyst. "I don't think he would be keeping her as a hostage, the fingerprints were found on the cup, means her hands were free, if he did actually take her as a hostage wouldn't he let her starve? Or at least keep her hands bound? And the case' report said nothing about chains or the like, you would have found at least one evidence that proves your assumption but you haven't." The confident tone of the boy as he spoke drew a proud smile on Hanji's face.

"You know, Arlert, sometimes I wonder why you have become a fingerprint analyst when you could have become a detective, I'd enjoy working with you." Diffident by the compliment, the boy nervously smiled before a more serious expression killed his moment of pride when his eyes noticed the malevolence growing wide in Erwin's eyes. "Erwin, you have to take a break and rest, you seem not to think logically since a while now, I think this case is getting more personal than it should be and it's starting to affect you." Hanji's concerned remark felt more like squeezing lemon juice on a wounded area to Erwin, it angered him so much he left the room immediately without saying a word.

"Ah!...I think I should go talk to him, excuse me Armin." Hanji nodded her head at him and smiled, excusing herself to leave and go after the pissed-off Erwin, knowing she'll have a hard time to deal with him and as soon as the woman left, Armin's eyes went back to fix the screen, Mikasa's picture was keeping his gaze locked on it to only send a shiver down his spine.

_Armin, this is Mikasa…My adopted sister. She'll be living with us starting now, she's a bit of shy but well…she'll get used to us._

"In fact, the day we have feared has arrived…To think one day I'd have to be fighting against my old friends." The throbbing of his heart could be almost heard, his own realization built a giant barrier against his will for siding with his friends and having to fight against them. Friends even though the time he had spent with them wasn't so long it was enough for him to get attached to them, love them. They were an unbreakable part of his life. Yes, _were_. Things have changed throughout years and he had to move on with his life.

"Aren't you hungry, Armin?" He almost forgot the presence of the girl in the same room as him, as calm as usual, he wouldn't notice her unless she drew his attention with her fading voice, stole his gaze with each step she made closer from him and the shorter the distance separating them was getting, the faster his heartbeats were going.

"Annie, I'm sorry I still got a lot of work to do, I doubt I can have time for dinner….Especially not now." The boy rubbed his eyes in exhaustion, he's been sitting there in front of the computer for hours and he still had undone work, but as soon as the girl pushed the papers on his desk aside to make a little space for herself to sit, he could no longer focus on his duties, it was only her his eyes could see.

"Then, how about a quick snack?" Her intention wasn't clear until he found the girl on his lap, without even getting the permission to, her lips joined his, and despite having done this to him several times now, he still gets surprised everytime as if it was the first, he could just sit there clueless until she decides to end the kiss that usually wouldn't take more than thirty seconds, however this time it was taking longer than ever he actually had the chance to return the kiss when he felt himself melting into it, yet his cheeks would still flush with a red shade and his eyes shut tight in embarrassment while she enjoyed having that sight of him every day and wouldn't miss a single second looking at it.

Before his hands could move to hold her by the waist, she had already broken the kiss and pulled away from him to only leave him dying in his awakened desires. Armin didn't move, even though he had the urge to pull her back to his lap and hold her tighter than ever, but he never really did so, he only watched her leaving the room calmly and before she closes the door behind her, she had paused and looked back at him, "Armin…I miss you." His eyes widened in disbelief, hearing such words coming out from her mouth was almost an impossible miracle, no matter how real his dreams felt, to be told those words in reality was totally something else, he had thought if she'd ever say such things to him, he'd be the man to stand up and hold her hands, pull her into a hug and whisper an "I missed you too." to her ear, but the real him was just sitting there doing nothing but staring, even staring felt too much to him he soon turned his gaze away from her, what a coward he was, his chest ached at that pathetic fact yet he could do nothing about it…Just not yet.

* * *

The fire they set wasn't enough to keep them warm regarding the weather conditions, and a cave was unquestionably not the best place to stay at, nevertheless, in their case, it was, Levi took care of cleaning it enough for the two of them to sit properly on the ground and Mikasa had a 'what the fuck?' moment watching him doing so. "Have you ever used a gun before, Mikasa." Levi asked from the opposite side to break the awkward silence, his gun in his hand, checking it charily and using a handkerchief to clean it -even though it was already spotless-, Mikasa's eyes were fixed on the fire trying to warm up when the question drew her attention.

"No…" Her behavior was still cold just as much as her body was, Levi sure was annoyed by that but he wouldn't expect less from such a girl who grew in the streets just like him, yet he was seemingly like a gentleman compared to her.

"You should learn how to, you'll have to use it starting now, I can teach you." Giving her a pitiable impression as he spoke, her eyes narrowed at him with intimidate. _How dare he underrate her skills?_

"Just because I don't use a gun doesn't mean I don't have other ways to defend myself and fight." Weak people always hide behind their weapons, that's what Mikasa's dictionary said and taught her all lifelong, and so she gave a word to never let people pity her, to show them how strong a human can be without the materials they make, for some she was a threat, but for others she was an ideal. It is only natural to be looked at differently from people, not everyone share the same points of views.

"I would like to know what ways you usually use to fight…which apparently had you ending up in a near-death experience." Not ever had she allowed a single living creature to use her, and she could already smell the domination coming out with each word he said, soon he would be using her for his own needs, telling her she owe him. An end had to be put to that before it ever begins.

"You were never forced to save my life, don't you think that because you helped me I'd be thankful to you and repay your debt, because I won't." As stern as her statement was, Levi wasn't that naive about her lack of confidence especially with her current body's condition, he sighed and looked her straight in the eyes through the fire that stood as a barrier between the two of them.

"If I actually had the intention of using you, don't you think I would be forcing you to suck my cock instead of offering my help to you with using guns?" It was such a disappointment to think that The One Worth A Hundred Bandits would be this light-headed, but he was the one to blame in the end, the girl was still young, or so she seemed. She never said anything back and simply held her knees closer to her chest, Levi then understood she wasn't that talkative person, he noted to himself as a reminder for if the two of them would be staying together any longer for the time being.

"When are we leaving?" To her own discomfort, she asked impatiently, more for her being concerned about the chances of cops finding them, her body's state wasn't that reassuring, she could fight but until when would she stand still and do so? This cave was too risky for the two of them.

"As soon as the rain stops." His eyes sneaking a quick look at the cave's entrance, if needed, they would have to leave even if the rain wouldn't stop when necessary, Levi wasn't prepared yet to make sacrifices for the girl's sake and certainly would not hesitate to leave her behind so he could survive, yet the reason of him saving her and keeping her still by his side was never known, not even for him, himself. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

"I think two days of sleep were more than enough." Wouldn't she seem even weaker if she slept again more than she already looked? Her pride wouldn't allow that to happen, she was yet to recover and regain her full strength. Hoping that she'd have a chance to prove him wrong and make him regret underestimating her.

"You still look exhausted." She was easy to read and Mikasa hated that fact, her eyes would never look back at him, only search for something to focus on, "So, are you gonna tell me what happened that night?" He knew nothing about her but her name which wasn't enough of knowledge if the two were to stay together. And there he was breaking the rule he made for himself; not to talk to her much. It wasn't helpful, not like being talkative was a part of him either but that was all he got to do.

"They were looking for me…" Levi raised an eyebrow when finally having the honor to hear her talking in a rather calm voice. "Those kids were counting on me…I swore to protect them…" Her voice was holding an unbearable guilt words weren't to fully accomplish describing it, how pitiable, she couldn't keep a promise she made to innocent souls, it would have been easier for her to burn in hell rather than betraying the roses she had watered with hopeful dreams for a better future. But the real betrayal here was her overconfident self.

"Are they dead?" His words echoed within the cave as well as in her head, she _refused _to believe so, as long as her eyes have not approved of this, she _will not _believe it. "Can we do something to help them?" Perhaps his previous question brought nothing but dreadful doubts, but his next one surely had her fully concentrated with him.

"Are you implying that _we_ are going to help those kids if the chances of their survival are still up?" Humanity's Gravest Thug willing to help lost, poor children? That was almost as impossible as getting her out of her crimson scarf. "_Both of us_?" She insisted, still in disbelief of what her own ears have heard.

"You seem to cherish these kids a lot, is it because perhaps you want to prevent what happened to you in your childhood from happening to them?" He sure was an expert at presuming things, or she was an easy book to read. Mikasa wondered to her own worries and swallowed the unspoken fears that bugged her in one quick gulp. Holding onto the fabric around her neck, she buried the lower part of her face in it, only her eyes trembling in scare at the slight flashback from her past, that was alone enough confirmation to Levi's presumption, words were not needed no more. "Do you remember how many guys were there…The ones who did this to you?"

"Don't you have other important things to do than helping me with this? I thought you wanted to escape." Still oblivious about the reason behind his will to give her a hand, she questioned him, her voice almost muffled underneath her scarf. Trust wouldn't make its landing until her heart gives the signal once it is safe and secure.

"We still got time for that." Whenever he spoke, his words always came in the strictest, most assured tone it left Mikasa drowning in puzzlement. She had yet to put the pieces together in the right place before finally having the full sight of the picture, his picture. "Besides, I don't mind having an entertaining escape scenery, you know…when the cops are trying desperately to catch us and they're only one step behind us but then they fail to do so…"

"Why do you always use 'we' when you speak? What makes you so sure I'm coming with you, or else you are referring to someone you're planning to meet soon?" Her eyes narrowed with a dark shade when she saw him smirk at her question, and behind that angry look she was wearing, she indeed was begging for a chance to punch him.

"Because I know you'll end up coming with me, my offer is still on, think about it." Surrender was definitely an erased word from his dictionary, stubbornness; that was probably something they would have a challenge over and whoever failure touches first, it will also bring the burial of their pride with it. "I know you might not want to cooperate with me because…you may have lost someone you used to work with." And before he even come to an end to his phrase, Eren's smile flashed before her widening eyes, "I lost my partners too, but that's life for you, you meet people every day, some of them can reach the deepest spot in your heart so when they leave, the reason our hearts were beating vanishes with them, but we're still alive, we still meet new people, but we never let them in because we're afraid…afraid of losing, but in fact that's how life rules,…you can't expect to always be the winner, no, that's not it—"

"If you win, you live, but if you, lose you die." She cut him off immediately. "This world is merciless like that, just because we're used to pain, does not mean it doesn't hurt every time we lose someone once more, it hurts even worse than before because you think you have changed, you think that you won't let it happen again, that you are now strong enough to defeat your fate, that you are capable of changing your life, but that is so wrong, no matter how much stronger we get, life gets crueler, it never stopped being so, and never will." It felt as if she was closing every possible way in to her, building solid, huge walls around her, trapping herself in a lonely world and it was when Levi saw how much she resembled him, she reflected him with every silly detail, but it also exposed to him the fact that he wasn't doing so to her, he was rather doing the exact opposite, inviting her to join him, wanting her to let him in.

_How is she so different? _He asked himself and seemed helpless to find the answer, Levi had never felt this flustered before, the fact that she had survived from when he found her that night was still amazing him, she must be strong— even stronger than any girl or a guy he had met till now, then he found out who she truly was; the so called 'The One Worth A Hundred Bandits' and he could slightly feel the disappointment lunging to his chest, the girl he had always admired without knowing and had always wanted to get a chance to meet was lying there in the most pathetic state ever, was he expecting something else? She was human after all, humans are all fragile creatures in the end and she wasn't any different, right?

"You might think you're facing your fears that way but you're not, you're actually running away from them." Levi made himself a somewhat comfortable bed, placing one of the bags they carried with them down as a pillow, he had been taking care of her since the last two days, finally, exhaustion was swinging his mind between consciousness and unconsciousness, giving up to the woeful truth, that he was a human as well as her, he needed rest, he needed sleep. "Put the fire out before getting to sleep."

"I'm not going to sleep." She knew for sure he heard her since the first time when she said it, and yet he obviously didn't believe her, perhaps it was a chance for Mikasa to show him how strong she was? Even though it wouldn't count, she already slept for two days, it seemed like a stupid idea that would certainly prove nothing but how childish she was, ashamed with her naivety, a frown managed to steal her ego, only to hide behind the old, outworn scarf of hers again. Before Levi's eyes fully give in to the inviting dreams, he could almost hear her screams that she was keeping within her, and he wondered if she needed a hug at that moment, if she would let him hug her if he tried to, but why would he even do so? _Why did it feel like the right thing to do?_

* * *

The cozy water dripping down her golden locks, tracing every curve in her small body as she stepped out of the bathtub, reaching her hand to a towel and wrapping it around her mid-chest, reaching down to her upper-thigh, she had just finished a soothing shower it erased all the exhaustion work had caused to her, Annie paused opposite to the foggy mirror, her reflection was hazy but not for so long, she wiped the mirror with her palm to finally have a better sight of her face. Annie's eyes glistened with a slight glitter of bleakness, her lips curved down in a frown, her mind seemed to slowly push out of her body, getting dragged into a throttling world that her chest started tightening in a desperate try of liberation from the acrid nightmares she'd been running away from, until the bell ring clinched her into the time being and soon she left the bathroom in a hurry to check who's at her door.

Having a quite unexpected visit from Armin, her eyes refused to move off his face in a total denial, when all she could see through his eyes was the countless nights he hadn't been visiting her, the despairing desire of sharing a tight embrace to fill up their unsatisfied needs for one another, her heart raced and in each beat, a lonely night flashed before her eyes when her lips at last parted to let out a soft whisper of the only thing she could speak, "Armin?..." There were hundred questions behind that call; _why are you here? Why are you looking at me like that? Why haven't you come until now? What is it that made you change your mind? Why did you leave me alone— How could you leave me alone? Why have you rejected me whenever I tried to come to you? What makes you so confident that I won't kick you out? How dare you stand in front of me like this? You idio—_So many questions she couldn't ask and were soon pushed off her mind when he shut her mouth with a kiss, the kiss he longed to share with her, give it all he could, return it whenever she was the one giving it, and despite being the one initiating it this time, his cheeks still flushed with red in embarrassment, completely ignorant to the fact that all that she was wearing was a towel, he had only one thought roaming in his mind and it was how to fucking be a man and kiss her.

"Annie, listen." No matter how long he craved that kiss to be, he ended up breaking it to regain his breath as well as to talk. "I'm so sorry for cutting everything off so sudden, I guess I was just hurt by the fact that…What I'm trying to say is…" Words lost their way to his mouth but she could care less, the cold air starting to replace the warmth of the fresh bath she just had, Annie took a tight hold of Armin's jacket and pulled him with intensity inside, kicking the door closed, she didn't know how but her legs were holding tight onto his waist, fingers tangled in his silky hair, pulling it petulantly while her tongue was exploring his mouth aggressively, breathing seemed unnecessary and all they needed was to feel eachother's warmth, to hold their lips together for as long as those nights they have spent apart were. Armin's hands adjusted her position and held her by her bare thighs, her skin felt tender against them and thinking he would have her naked in his arms if he would just pull the towel off her body rose the excitement, Annie was already divesting him of his clothes, having his upper body naked within less than two minutes, her hands began to unleash her desires, trailing his chest with a vertical line before drawing circles around it, sure he didn't have that muscular body that every girl would be dying for her dreams guy to have and that's what made him so special, she had fallen for him and loved him just the way he was, she knew he wasn't a fancy.

"You have no idea how much I needed this…how much I needed you." Her needs for air pushed her to break from the kiss, giving her a chance as well to say what she wanted him to know, "I'm sorry, Armin…I would never know how much I needed you if we hadn't been apart for a while." She leaned down to his neck, inhaling the scent that would drive her senses crazy yet calm her down. Despite his skin being exposed to the apartment's air, his chest felt so hot, shivering slightly at the feel of her tongue tracing his neck.

Armin fought the urge to drop her down until he was finally standing in front of the nearest couch, he could recall the nights they have spent cuddling and watching a movie together on it, memories that were carved in his heart for whenever he wanted to let go of her, to forget her, those moments were always dragging him back to this love cell he's been imprisoned in that seemed impossible to leave now, he's been proven guilty and loving this girl was his punishment, a bitter-sweet punishment. "I have missed you just as much, Annie." With those words tickling her ear, their souls were once again united, dismantling their bodies from what little clothing left that'd been preventing them from tasting the full ecstasy of the warmth of their skin pressed against one another, love finally received the permission to speak through their acts, lustful kisses to agonizing bites softened with a tender touch and forgotten with each unsatisfied soughs, pleading for more joyful pain, the pleasure never drove them to their bliss until they become one, their bodies joined eachother for what seemed like their souls have found heaven, the passion within each thrust was worth a thousand night of torture, the muffled screams within each kiss they shared were a mirthful music to their ears, the air felt heavy and their body's heat increased until they thought they were thrown in hell, sweat drops rolling down their faces reflecting a whole gain of hard work, yes, love was a hard work, love was a fight not everyone was ready to go through but they have managed to find a way to survive it, they have found peace in a wonderful world, and not even when they hit their bliss did they part from eachother, they held onto one another even tighter, their breaths got mixed and their fingers intertwined, their lips joined for one, last, passionate kiss before parting and it was the best fucking feeling ever.

"Annie…" With what little strength he had saved, Armin lifted his body off of hers, having the most beautiful sight of her beneath him, her red cheeks and sleepy eyes, the few wisps of her hair that were bugging her sight and he soon brushed them off. "I was serious…when I said I wanted to marry you…and gave you that ring. I do love you, a lot… I guess I just don't want to lose you in the future because I couldn't prevent you from doing something reckless…and I—"

"Will you do it again, Armin?" Fighting the heaviness of her eyes, she opened them as wide as she could to have a full sight of his face, her hand reached helplessly to his cheek, wiping the sweat away and stroking it tenderly.

"D-Do what?" A bit unsure of what she meant, he asked.

"Propose…?" His heart skipped a beat at the word, losing his mind for a second, he gulped, his eyes searching for his jacket where he had put the ring after she gave it back to him, it was always there in his pocket, always there waiting for a response from her. "I don't need a ring to say yes…I just need you." She never knew if he had gotten rid of the ring when she gave it back, nor if he kept it with him, but that wasn't what she needed, she needed _him_ and _only_ him.

A smile found its way to his lips, he never was happier before, this time he was certain of the decision he had made, tonight, he was ready as ever to go for it with no backing down. Tracing her lips with his thumb that she soon planted a warm kiss on it, Armin sighed in relief. "Will you marry me, Annie?"

* * *

"I…I will kill him…" A rough, almost muffled voice spoke threatening.

"Yes, yes you will, Erwin, just not right now because you need to rest and sleep." On the other hand there was Hanji, walking a drunk Erwin to his room, he was heavy and could barely stand on his own, no matter how many times she screamed at him to stop drinking he wouldn't listen, claiming he was familiar with drinking she couldn't argue, until he started threatening people with death, mistaking them for his one and only enemy. Hanji then saw it was time to leave and go back home.

"He will pay…for all his crimes." Hanji dropped him on the bed and let out a heavy sigh, her shoulder was aching and she stretched a bit before leaning down and taking off his shoes, she pulled the covers over him and smiled to herself, wishing him a good night before leaving his room.

"Ah! Well, hopefully he'll be able to go to work by tomorrow." Hanji yawned to herself and walked to the kitchen, some water before going to sleep would do. Even though sleep wasn't inviting her yet, she still had to force herself, tomorrow would be a long, tiresome day.

* * *

"Cut your hair."

"No!"

Arguing was their specialty, stubbornness? They were mostly to be the king and queen of that, some changes were needed to assure a more safe trip for the two, It was 5 am when Levi's patience was starting to reach its limits, all he wanted to do was helping her and now he was regretting saving her sorry life in the first place, she gave him hard times.

"This is necessary if you actually want to save those kids, and as well escape later on without anyone doubting who you are." He was thankful the lord had mercy and she finally agreed to change her clothes, even though she refused discarding the scarf which still annoyed him, it was filthy, disgusting and he hated it. "Your fucking hair will grow longer sooner or later just fucking cut it now."

Now she wasn't going to act like a spoiled girl who likes her hair longer because simply it makes her look sexier, no, it wasn't that, but she hadn't cut her hair ever since the incident—She swore not to cut her hair until the only guy who was allowed to do so would tell her to, and also because she loved arguing with Levi.

"Do you want me to cut it myself?" He was serious, and it hurt when he took a hold of her hair forcefully, she struggled to push him off, her arms were aching still and she cursed under her breath for being such a weak, pathetic girl. "Which do you cherish the most, Mikasa, their lives or your hair?" At least that kept her from resisting anymore, Levi used the chance to cut her hair, she didn't seem to mind, despite the sad look that was on her face but he doubted it was for her hair. Levi made sure not to cut it that short just to satisfy her taste –he cared, apparently- she didn't look bad at all in the end. "Suits you." Either it sounded like a complement or not, it was a good change for her face; that is what he thought, of course.

"I'm still not going to use the gun, nor the knife." Rejecting his second offer from when they started moving again this early morning, Levi would care less, he shrugged his shoulders at her and rolled his eyes, getting used to her attitude was a new goal he had to accomplish now, apparently.

"Even if you tried to use it, I doubt there's a chance you'd shoot someone, not without practice." Was that another challenge he was declaring at her? Did he think it would be actually that hard for her to aim a gun at someone and shoot them? At least it didn't seem that hard in her opinion, maybe she should give it a shot later on if necessary? She thought, and nodded silently, almost drowning in her moment of pride, she woke up at the call of her name, he was ready to leave already, she threw what little fabric that was around her shoulders and stood up to follow him.

"So, you said that gang trade kids for money, right? They send them away in ships…How do you know they haven't done this yet to those kids?" She was ready to believe anything he said that was going to give her at least a spark of hope to save the kids.

"The weather conditions, it was raining profusely for the last three days and I doubt any ship would be able to sale in such weather, especially not ships that trade kids or sell drugs and the like, their material is so lame it would break down if you breathe out at it." She fought the urge to laugh at his comment. "Besides, the most trades are usually done on weekends…I know this because well, I've been a part of some." His next statement definitely wasn't something she liked to hear. "Nothing to do with trading kids though, just drugs and weapons." Mikasa gulped, she wasn't certain of how to feel with him anymore, she wanted to trust him but couldn't fully do it.

"So, you don't usually work alone?" Recalling what he said about him working alone, she noted how his current statement proved that wrong. Yes, she was confused to the fullest.

"I do work alone, Mikasa. I gain money for my own and I never shared it with anyone, I am an independent thug, the only partners I had died long time ago." He explained, hoping it cleared things enough for her.

"Have you killed anyone before….an innocent person I mean." Her voice was shaking a bit while asking that question and he noted.

"Do you believe there are still innocent people in this world, Mikasa? You have said it yourself last night, haven't you? This world is merciless like that, we kill to live, we don't care whether the person was guilty or innocent, we erase anything that threatens our lives so we can live on, the world itself is a big threat." She couldn't agree more with him, but she feared the thought of her having to kill an innocent soul to survive, was she really that selfish? "Now you're not going to tell me that if a cop showed up in front of you, ready to shoot you, you would simply stand there and let them do it because the cops are good people, they do their jobs, are you? We are the bad people here…we do horrible things, doesn't mean the government doesn't do worse, do you think they're not aware of the whole illegal trade operations that are going on? They know very well, and most of those operations are indeed directed by the government itself, we're just pieces Mikasa, pieces that will be sacrificed to accomplish the government wishes, and so all the evidences will vanish with us." His talk sure made a lot of sense, but it felt like she was drowning in an eddy of confusion she didn't know what to hold on to, what to believe and what to deny? Only one thing she had to keep in mind for now, saving those kids before it's too late.

_TBC_


	3. Chapter Two: Acquiescence

**A/N: **I'm so sorry it took me so long to update this, I have been busy with school, tests, exams and all, but since now I'm on my summer break, I'll be writing more. Thanks for the follows and the reviews, this chapter is somewhat longer than the previous one, even though it's not as long as I wanted it to be, but yeah, enjoy.

**Side Note: **This chapter also has a mention of rape and drugs, well, I think it's quite obvious for this fic to have these kinda things, since it's a Thug Life AU.

* * *

There wasn't a chance to deny her heart's decision, ever since she had joined the police department three years ago, nevertheless her pulse was so even when her eyes saw him for the first time, it wasn't love from the first sight, it was love that grew throughout the time they had spent in each other's company, hence she cherished it and praised this connection between them.

"Hi there, you must be the new one," Never could she forget the bright smile on his face when he greeted her, "My name's Armin, I work here as a fingerprint analyst." He introduced himself and reached his hand out to her.

"Annie." She did the same, and took his hand in hers for a quick handshake, it was the opening of a friendship which eventually led the two of them to multiple experiences, either it had something to do with work, or outside their job's circle, hanging out with few of the department members at night brought them closer, and sometimes they would sneak out of their little group and have a walk alone, it wouldn't hurt to hold hands when the night was cold, his shoulder also felt like a comfy pillow to rest her head on whenever he drove her home when she was tired, she wouldn't mind him picking her up, in fact she loved every moment their bodies pressed, and so when their lips touched for the first time, she even invited him to spend the night at her place, to forget all the stress from work and have some peaceful time together, Armin was the first man to make her feel so precious and loved, not only by words, but by acts too, never would she forget when he first made love to her, a night that was solidified in her heart.

And each time was a whole new experience, the limits of their love never existed. His skin still felt as soft as ever whenever she traced his face with her fingertips in the morning to wake him up, his chest was still the warmest place she could hide in, his smell was still so unique, Armin still was the man she desired, and last night certainly proved that.

"Armin…" Her voice was so low when she called his name, still fighting her sleepiness to talk. "We're going to be late for work." She made sure he was aware of their responsibilities.

"I'm awake…," He whispered in return, his heavy eyes barely opening to have the slightest look at her morning face which he hadn't seen in a while now. "too lazy to get out of bed though." He turned to lie on his back and stretch his numb muscles.

"I know…" She stole a quick kiss from his snug cheek before kicking the last of laziness out of her and she pulled the sheets off, sitting up to only step out of the bed moments later and walk to her closet, and his eyes were following her every move with a smile –not that he hadn't seen her naked before-.

"Shall we take a shower?" He suggested as he straightened his back and sat up on the bed, she only glanced at him from behind her shoulder to give him a nod of agreement that blew a wave of impulsive happiness to feel welcomed again.

* * *

"So…," Hanji, with two cups of coffee in her hands, walked to the table where Erwin was sitting in the kitchen, to join him for a quick breakfast before leaving to work. "How do you feel?" She placed a cup in front of him and took her seat.

"Still have this…headache, but I'll be fine." Said the man with a shiftless will to speak, he had spent a tough night, he could barely recall what had happened to him, nor could he recall ever being brought home.

"I've been reading some files last night before getting to sleep, about the girl, since I knew nothing about her except for her being called _The One Worth A Hundred Bandits_. And I found out some interesting things, she had never committed a murder before, her crimes are just a bunch of thefts that took scene in some public shops and stores, most likely all she stole was food…the poor girl must have been starving, well, she's also a significant fighter though, she had beaten up so many thugs and mafia bosses over the last five years, though she hadn't killed any of them…I don't think she's that harmful." Hanji then paused and took a sip of her coffee before it gets cold.

"Levi is our _main_ target, Hanji, she might not be harmful now, but if he's planning to keep her with him, he's going to turn her to the next _Humanity's Gravest Thug._" Erwin's severe tone never left his voice whenever he spoke about his enemy, he could barely drink his coffee with his mind busy thinking about major cases.

"What I'm trying to say is; if we ever have a chance to arrest her, we can maybe convince her to help us, obviously all what the girl needs is a home to stay at, and if we give her that, she might change." Hanji was that kind of person who always believed in people's ability to change, no matter how bad they are they always have the chance to become a better person and make the right choices, however, Erwin didn't fully agree with that.

"We're dealing with the most dangerous people in the country, Hanji, there is no going back, we're not going to discuss peace with them and invite them to join us, I certainly won't ever think about making peace with those bastards, I'm going to kill them, that is all they deserve for all the crimes they have committed, for all the years of my life that I have wasted looking for them, their death will be by my bare hands, and your stupid concepts about people's ability to change won't ever stop me from reaching my goal." The anger was already taking over him again, Hanji had warned him so many times before, to never allow his personal life to interfere with his job, to push his emotions away when working no matter how hard it would be for him. But it was more like she had been talking to a wall.

"Listen, Erwin…If anything occurs, I'm afraid I will have to ask the chief to withdraw you from this case." Hanji warned him one more time, informing him that she would not stand by his side if he was going to act on his own, she still had duties that she would never drop.

"That still wouldn't stop me." His grudge was way too tremendous to be stopped by a simple threat from his partner. Erwin was ready to go against the law if he had to, what mattered to him was to have his enemy dead, no matter what.

* * *

"Where is this damn ship you fucking cunts? Why is it late?" A man with a black suit shouted at the port worker in front of him, seeming to be his boss.

"S-Sir…The ship is on the way, they couldn't sail earlier because of the weather conditions last night, so they might arrive about half an hour late, sir." The port worker explained with a nervous tone.

"Dimo Reeves, he's one of the biggest traffickers in here…and his main occupation is child trafficking." Levi whispered to the girl next to him, in reference to the old man standing in the distance, just to let her know few more things before they start their so called _rescue operation_. "He owns some brothels here and there, you can say he's famous…"

"Are you saying that he uses those innocent kids in sex trading?" Mikasa couldn't hide her terrified expression when hearing Levi's words, the shocking thought of having one of those kids she had earned her whole life to protect, abused and used in such offensive way, it made her blood boil.

Levi gazed up at her, unable to keep a sigh from escaping him, "Well, yeah…And I'm going to tell you this, you should probably guess that he had already used one of those kids in advance, to avoid further shocking, since, like I said, I doubt any ship would have sailed these last two days, so the chances are that they took advantage of it to…have the first bite of the meal." It wasn't something she wanted to hear and it cost him a drastic kick in the leg, he whimpered silently and glared warningly at her.

"Don't talk like that, you disgust me." Mikasa said in a cautionary tone which had Levi smirking at her.

"Excuse me, princess." Levi rolled his eyes at her then gazed back at the man who had started walking off. "The plan is to find out where they are keeping the kids…since they seem ready to load the ship that is coming, then most likely the kids are in one of those trucks you see there…we're not sure if they're going to sell them all though, they might have kept some…, how many kids are there?"

"Let me get this right, I highly doubt they're only going to sell the kids whom I know, so, are we like, going to save them only instead of saving all the kids they're planning to use in their sickening traffic?" She asked but she wasn't waiting for an answer, what difference would it make to save few kids and leave some to have a terrible fate? She would be just as bad as those trading them, and she, in specific, would never accept this, she had already experienced an awful childhood and she certainly wouldn't want any kid in the world to go through the same.

"Alright, listen to me, I'm not going to risk my and your safety for the sake of people whom I don't know, I'm only helping you in this because you have something for those kids, now if you're actually expecting me to become a nice guy and save everyone who's being sold in here, then you better go on by yourself." Levi might have sounded harsh while saying those words, but he was honest, he had already offered his help to her, right, but now she was being greedy.

"Isn't saving my little buddies already considered as a big risk? We're going to make a mess in here either way, let's save them once and for all." Mikasa still insisted, and she had a point in there yet Levi hated to admit it, and refused to give her a clear answer, he simply shrugged his shoulders at her.

"We're gonna have to split…You go look for your babies, and I'll keep Reeves and his men busy. Try to be fast, the less time it takes, the more chance we have to escape successfully." Levi explained in hope for everything to go smoothly and easily. "If ever shooting gets involved, don't panic, I'll take care of that, you just focus on saving the kids and taking them to a safe place."

"Taking them to a safe place as in?" She wasn't sure if any place around here was safe, they were basically in a zone filled with murderers and traffickers, which part of that was safe? And what even proved how dangerous this place was, was the fired shot from behind that almost hit one of the two, but luckily the shooter hit the crate they were hiding behind, they were fast enough to move away before another shot hit any of them.

"Okay, change in plan, we'll have to fight and look for the kids at the same time." Levi pulled out his gun swiftly and looked at her, even though she had already refused to, he still held the gun out to her, even though he had told her she wouldn't be able to shoot anyone without practice, he still was ready to give her the gun so she could protect herself, but she only shook her head at him, still rejecting his offer.

"I'll be fine." Was all she said before getting on her feet and running to only declare the start of the rescue, Levi followed with a firm grip around the gun in his hand and necessary shots leaving it to keep whoever attempted to get the slightest step towards them away, he avoided any deadly shots though. First there was this huge truck in front of them which Mikasa guessed the kids would be inside of it, but then again, when she saw that it wasn't the only truck around here, her hopes decreased just a tiny bit. The trailer was locked and she had yet to figure out a way to break that lock, she needed something stiff and her eyes were already roaming around to look for a material that could help.

"What the fuck is going on out there?" Reeves who was sitting in his little peaceful area at one of the tables nearby the port, drinking tea, asked one of his men when the shooting was all his ears could hear, panicked, he stood up with his hands and legs shaking in fear. "C-Cops?" It would be a shame if cops had found out about all his illegal trade operations after all these years that had passed. Jail was the only place he would never step in, _ever._

"Sir, we have intruders, it's Levi, sir…and he brought a girl with him, it's her…" Breathless, the man explained to his boss to only draw even more fear in him, Levi wasn't any better than cops.

"Call the boss…, ask him whether we should retreat or get rid of them." Reeves gulped when ordering his man, not wasting a second before leaving in a rush to his car, he wouldn't stay here to face his inevitable death. Hell with his men he would care less about their survival.

Levi and Mikasa were starting to be surrounded by Reeves' men and they had to fight back together in order to gain more time to look for the kids later on, Levi didn't only use the gun but also had to support that with several punches and kicks, wasting his gun's bullets unnecessarily would only have him and Mikasa in a pathetic situation, as for Mikasa, the girl who had clung to her behavior even tighter, was waiving all the pain that ran across every muscle she moved, keeping one thought running in her mind '_Fight, fight…FIGHT!' _When one of the gangsters approached her, threatening to shoot her, she reacted swiftly and used her left hand and to grab his wrist while holding the barrel of the gun with her right, pulling his wrist towards her with her left hand while she pushed the barrel of the gun with her right. And when she gained complete control over the gun, she began to randomly shoot so anyone who thought of approaching her was backing away, until having the gun empty in her hand, she then overthrew the guy before doing a back-flip, and the moment her feet touched the ground again, her hand reached to a pipe and took it in a tight grasp.

Levi was watching her curiously all the time, while still keeping an eye on the enemy in front of him. Now relieved about her safety, she didn't lie when she said she didn't need a gun or a knife to protect herself, he just needed to trust her strength.

* * *

"I was watching the news when their faces showed on TV and I immediately called the police station, I suspected something strange about the two since the moment they entered my shop, they didn't look like normal citizens, something about them seemed off…" A young woman spoke in fear to Erwin and Hanji, they had been called to investigate in a shop when the owner informed them about the suspicious visit by 'the criminals'. However, there wasn't much to see, they hadn't caused any mess, all they did was buying some clothes to get changed, they even paid for them before leaving. "It was around 4 in the morning, they were the only costumers here, I had to start working early today because I was supposed to unpack some merchandises, so I can't tell whether they were planning to break in the shop or it just happened for them to pass by at a perfect timing." She added.

"Did they take a car or any kind of vehicles?" Hanji asked, the shopkeeper only shook her head with a little bit of hesitation, she couldn't aver whether the two came with a car or whatsoever and left it far away from the shop, she had no evidence.

"The girl was injured, if that helps…" The young woman said, to only confirm Hanji's suspicions, of course, the blood tests didn't say otherwise, but an eyewitness was also required.

"Thank you…" Hanji gave off a faint smile before turning around to look for Erwin who had begun wandering around the place. "Erwin, we shouldn't be wasting our time, we should leave now."

"…" He sighed to himself and met her gaze, the glow of feud he had in those blue eyes of his only expanded, for Hanji only to feel the concern blowing her chest with a heavy pain.

The two partners walked outside the store to only pause at the entrance, Erwin's gaze desperately looking up to the sky when taking a long breath in, until he felt Hanji's hand resting comfortingly on his shoulder. Though she had stated earlier that she was ready to give up on him if she'd ever have to, it still would never be that easy for her, to give up on a dear friend of hers, he wasn't only her partner in this case, he was a lot more than just that and she hoped he didn't forget, she cared for him, and anything she would do no matter how wrong it would sound in his perspective, it would only be for his good in the end. So when he finally reached a peaceful place in his mind, he relaxed and walked to the car with Hanji smiling in the background.

"If they took time to buy clothes and change their apparel, they're most likely to change their looks so they won't be easily recognized. Hell they might even be hiding in disguise right now, it's nearly 8:49, they had so much time in their hands." Hanji began to come up with presumptions while Erwin was driving their way back.

"The question is: why are they still in town? They could have left and yet they're still here. They must be looking for something…or maybe someone?" Erwin barely finished his statement when they received a phone call. Hanji took care of answering it.

"Yes…? Oh! Is that for sure? No we've just finished checking the store we're actually on our way back but since that's the case… Yes, alright, make sure to send some units to the location, we'll be right there." She hung up and the curiosity was already burning in Erwin's eyes. "Erwin, somebody has just called to inform about some shooting which took place in the Trost port, and they also mentioned how two of the people there resembled our two little friends. More units are to be sent in few minutes, let's go."

* * *

"Boss, the girl is obviously here to save the kids we kidnapped, we're not sure yet why Levi is here with her though," While the gangsters were busy with a spiced up shooting exchange, one of them made a call to their boss as ordered, to inform him about the surprise visit Levi had made to them with his little _unexpected_ partner. "He could have saved her after we got rid of her, but still, that doesn't sound like him… What are your orders, boss?"

Mikasa's palms were turning red and all scratched due to the thousands times she had been hitting that goddamned lock with the pipe, luckily she had Levi dealing with the bunch of delinquents that were gathering around the place, so she worried less.

"Listen up, we're gonna take one of the trucks and leave this place, forget about saving everyone, be selfish for once at least and think about your own safety." Reloading his gun, Levi said, nonchalant to the girl's persistent effort to break the lock and get the kids out.

"Not until I make sure everyone is inside, alive and well." In Mikasa's eyes, it was way too late to retreat now, since they had already started this, they would have to go all the way. Not only was she teasing Levi with her stubbornness, but she had made herself a promise, she had sworn to protect those children and she had no right to break that promise.

"Big sis Mikasa! Is that you?" A recognizable –To Mikasa's ears- voice of a child called out from inside the trailer of the truck, to only have Mikasa's eyes widening, heart racing, arms paralyzing for a brief second till the recognition of the voice' owner fully settled in her mind.

"Nicole…darling, yes it's me. Are you alright in there?" Her sympathetic voice broke through the metallic barrier that kept the kids retaining inside, agitating them to stand up and call her name as loud as ever, crying and screaming, their weak fists hitting the shuttered door. Levi felt his heart almost being torn apart when seeing the tears glistening in Mikasa's eyes, hearing their innocent voices had him wondering how he could even think about leaving them behind and abandoning them. But before any further thinking gets him, he focused his gaze back on the shooters around the place, he had shot so many of them yet they kept coming out of nowhere, though they had stopped coming any closer, only shooting from a distance while hiding behind what was surrounding the place of cargo.

"Is big bro Eren with you? He's the one who told you where we are, right?" Another kid asked with a somewhat bright voice, though Mikasa couldn't help but frown at the mention of Eren's name.

"N-No…Eren isn't here." She spoke to her own disappointment. Reeve's men seemed to be taking a break from shooting and so Levi had a chance to exhale, his eyes then fixed on Mikasa's face, it was pretty easy for him to guess, from the expression she was making, that Eren must have been someone she had lost a while ago.

"Did he talk to you? He asked about you and we thought you were dead so we told him, and he looked so sad." The child's words branched a stormy shock into Mikasa's immovable certainty of Eren's death, all those bloody illusions of his dead body pendent in front her moldering, to finally exhibit a clear portrait of the smile her eyes longed to see.

"Big sis, they took Gabi away…please, save her." The little Nicole said with a wistful tone.

"Fuck!" Mikasa cursed under her breath, just when she thought they were ready to leave and save everyone, it turned out it would still take them longer than it should. They were running out of time, if Reeves men kept showing up like this, it would be a dead end for all of them.

"I think I know where she might be…" Levi said in hope to light up her fading determination, and he felt somewhat delighted when she looked at him with brightened eyes. He was the one to tell her how they had to hurry and get out of here, and yet he was again offering help, why? She never knew. " Okay so, there's a warehouse nearby…we're gonna take this truck and break into it, things might get a little bit…tougher though, but we'll do our best." His words prosperously planted the volition back into her chest, and she nodded at him with a faint smile.

"Hey, guys, how about you sit down now? We're gonna get you out of here, alright? Everything will be okay, we'll find Gaby and take her with us too, so don't worry, Nicole, your sister will come back to you." She reassured the kids, hearing her voice only was more than just enough to grant a forever lasting smile on their angelic faces, they believed in her more than anyone else.

"Big sis, I love you." said Nicole with a loud, cheerful tone to only have the others supporting her statement. "We all love you, big sis." added the rest of the children, bringing tears to Mikasa's eyes which she didn't wait till they fall and wiped them off immediately.

"I love you too." They were there, they heard her, for a terse second, time froze for her own realization of how fast a moment chased another, of how massive changes may occur in between two seconds, just like she had thought for years that Eren must have been dead, and now she was in a total denial of that idea, just like she had heard Levi saying he wouldn't help her, and yet he was still risking his life to save these kids with her, life hid uncountable surprises from her, changes will continue to interfere with her life within each breath she took, with a quick blinking of an eye, she had seen the world moving upside down right before her eyes, she had felt an excruciating soreness along her back and a slight burn in her elbows, a rattling sound of something crashing was all she could hear, and before she came back to her senses again, her eyes caught a sight of Levi's face above her, and felt his arms wrapped around her waist firmly, she had managed to have a bigger sight of the surroundings and he pulled away from her, her eyes staring in disbelief at the truck, or _what was left of it_, it was damaged, technically _destroyed_, it took her few moments to realize what had just happened, on her left there was this crane, which apparently someone used to hit the truck with a bunch of heavy loads, sending the truck nearly flying and flipping towards a whole other bunch of cargo, when her eyes landed again on the truck, she could see the blood dripping from it, pervading the ground slowly.

_No! _She screamed to herself in repudiation to what her eyes had just witnessed, not only a moment ago, she was standing there, a metallic door separating her from freeing the kids, but now the barrier became wider, the death rope that had bound those kids and kidnapped them before she even realized it. "N-No…."

The police cars' sirens could be heard from a distance, which got everyone who was in the port to leave in a hurry before the cops arrives, Levi too got up and pulled Mikasa with him, though she refused to move not even one step away.

"Mikasa…we should go." Levi took her hand in his hold, he didn't bother to look at her face, she must be so broken now and it wasn't a perfect timing to talk anyway, they had to escape before it was too late. "Come on." He began running and dragged her with him, her eyes were fixed still on the truck as if waiting for any sign of survival, but there was nothing, nothing but more and more blood leaking. "The warehouse…" Levi's voice finally brought her attention, when she looked forward to see that they were running into the warehouse he had mentioned earlier, where Gabi could possibly be, and so they both fastened their steps. Levi kicked the door open and aimed his gun at whoever might be inside, but the warehouse was empty, not fully though, they needed few more steps inside until a figure caught their sight.

"Gabi!" Mikasa shouted and freed her hand from Levi's hold, rushing to the girl whom was shuddering in both fear and cold, her skin as pale as ever, her wrists were bound tight in a rope and her clothes torn apart and so it revealed her upper-body, Mikasa wrapped her arms around the girl to only meet a cold breeze, she had been freezing in here for god knows how long "I'm so sorry." Mikasa whispered warmly to the girl's ear, though she didn't get any reply from her, the poor girl was still in shock and panic; she could no longer move nor talk.

Levi approached the two and pulled out his knife, he leaned down just a little bit to cut the rope and free her hands. "We must hurry." He said, and his worried tone when speaking made Mikasa realize that their chances to escape were almost near to the zero, especially with the cops paying them this sudden visit now. Once Gabi's hands were free, Mikasa took off her shirt swiftly and helped her to put it on, she'd rather have her body exposed than a little girl's, and Levi was slightly startled about how easy she found it to take her shirt off in front of him, but soon brushed that thinking off seeing that it wasn't the right time. "I'll carry her on my back." Levi said before taking the girl's arms readily and wrapping them around his neck, holding her by her thighs and standing up. It was time for them to escape now.

* * *

"Surround the area and make sure no one escapes, he's not alone this time so be careful," Erwin sent his commands to the units that were splitting and pursuing disparate roads, in order to expand the search zone and blockade Levi and Mikasa, Erwin's rigorous voice penetrating the speaker he was holding, sending all of the deduction within him in each word, "No matter what happens, don't let him out of your sight, don't kill him though, leave that to me."

"Are you nervous, Petra?" In a different car that was as well a part of the same mission, a guy with a dirty-blond hair and an undercut spoke to his partner blabbering, his small eyes watching her reflection in the car's mirror as he drove.

"What are you talking about, Oluo? I'm not nervous, since when do I feel nervous?" The girl who appeared to have a light ginger, short hair glanced at her partner from the backseat with piercing, amber eyes and said huffing. Not amused by his superfluous comment.

"Whenever it had something to do with capturing _Humanity's Gravest Thug_, you seem to be nervous, doesn't she, Gunther?" Teasingly, Oluo smirked at the furious Petra, asking his friend in the back for some support in the game.

"It's true, Petra, haha! If I didn't know you I'd say you've been sleeping with him." Gunther said jokingly, though Petra didn't seem to enjoy either of the guys' humor. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and there was a fire starting in her eyes.

"W-W-W-W-What did you just say?" Frustrated, she shouted at the two. "How can you guys think like that about me, I hate you, ugh! Why would I even sleep with a criminal? I am so disappointed in you."

"Enough, guys, why do you like teasing her so much, she looks ugly when she has that frustrated look on her face." A third guy spoke, running his hand through his blond hair and chuckling at the sight of Petra in the back.

"Eld! So you're siding with them now? You guys are hopeless, such immature peasants." She crossed her arms and gazed away from them, though once her eyes looked out the window, she witnessed their aim running away into an empty street, her eyes widened for a moment before fixing her gaze back at her partners, they didn't seem to notice anything, she breathed out in relief, though not for so long. Soon, they got called by another unit which apparently also happened to spot them running, giving them few more information about their location, all the units changed their direction to the appointed one, Petra didn't seem as comfortable as before, in fact she was even more nervous, Gunther noticed, yet avoided making any comment about it.

"Sir, there's another girl with them…" From the car that was purchasing them, said a blond guy with a short haircut to inform Erwin, they only expected seeing two of them, but surprisingly they had a little girl with them.

"Reiner, stop the car, I'll go after them." Annie who was sitting in the same car demanded, he complied and stopped the car for her with no arguing, just giving her a quick nod before she opened the door and stepped out. "Thanks."

"Be careful, Annie, we'll be following you, alright." Reiner said reassuring the girl before she left, they didn't need to worry about her, they had known her for three years and she was skilled enough to go by her own. "Bert, Berik, we'll join her in few minutes so be prepared, we're going to try to block their way until the other units join us." Reiner explained to his two other friends his small plan to capture Levi and Mikasa, they simply nodded at him while he continued to drive his way forward.

* * *

"Is there a particular place we're heading to, or are we just running?" Mikasa who began to get her hopes down asked, her eyes speaking with surrender. She wasn't sure if she could keep going any further than this, all she had done was basically to save those kids but she had failed miserably, she had failed to keep her promise and betrayed naïve souls, how could she forgive herself?

"Right now, I'm not so sure where we should go, before considering going to a safe place we should first get rid of the police." He looked back at her and met her eyes, reading in them the words she couldn't speak, he wished he could say anything to comfort her, to tell her everything would be okay, that they would get through this no matter how hard it seemed, but hell, he wasn't sure of it himself, he wouldn't guarantee their safety, sure he had been through this a lot of times before, but never did he feel this responsible, he wasn't alone, he had to think of a way to save all three of them and not just himself, and for a second there he wondered why does he feel this way, why does he feel obliged to rescue them, why is he afraid of something happening to them, to her in specific, this feeling was much like a burden to him, he had always been a coldhearted person, not giving a damn about people dying in front of him even though he had a chance to save them, but now…

Suddenly, he was pulled from the ocean of confusion he was drowning in, when a shot passed by his face, leaving a scratch across his cheek, he paused for a quick second and turned around to see the blonde girl standing opposite to them, aiming her gun at them.

"Stay right there." Annie demanded, "Put the little girl down." She added once noting that the girl was unconscious and obviously in need to be treated. "Now." She pressed when Levi didn't comply.

"No," Mikasa replied in confidence, there was _no_ way she would let them take Gabi from her, not after she risked her and Levi's lives, and sacrificed the children's too to get to her. "She's not going anywhere."

"Oh! Hi there, Mikasa…It's been a while, hasn't it?" Annie then moved her attention to Mikasa, her eyes fixing her interestingly, raising an eyebrow while doing so "I had no idea you also worked as a stripper." She said with some tease in her tone, noting out the fact that Mikasa had no top on except for that black bra, but that didn't concern Mikasa, what actually concerned her was the fact that Annie had just stated that they had met before, which she apparently couldn't recall, she stared at her confused, but didn't say a word in return. "This isn't a game, Mikasa, you guys better put the girl down."

"Maybe you didn't hear what I said," Mikasa's hands reached to Levi's gun before Annie could even realize it, and the two girls stood aiming at each other for an intense moment, Levi eyed Mikasa in surprise, didn't she refuse to use tha gun every time he had asked her to?

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" He questioned.

"That's right, Mikasa. What do you think you're doing?" Annie repeated Levi's question consequently.

_"__Now you're not going to tell me that if a cop showed up in front of you, ready to shoot you, you would simply stand there and let them do it because the cops are good people, they do their jobs, are you?" _Levi's words resonated in her ears, they were all Mikasa could think about for the moment, a cop was aiming her gun at her, ready to shoot her, and she was _not_ ready to die.

"I suggest you to put that gun down now, Mikasa. Even if you shoot me, it's already the end for you two, you can't escape now." Annie spoke in the calmest tone ever, it was also somehow playing with Mikasa's nerves, giving up wasn't her thing, hell she'd rather die than give up.

"It's not the end until I die, hun." She responded, her finger resting on lightly on the trigger, almost pressing it to shoot, her fears increased with each heartthrob going faster and faster by the second, she would press the trigger if she had to, but she never knew whether she would able to aim perfectly and hit Annie, Levi was rather calm, and he was there only watching the ongoing, he would interfere though if needed, yet a huge part of him was still curious as to whether Mikasa would prove him wrong, whether she was that skilled and she didn't need any sort of training to be capable of shooting someone, he wanted to know, he could almost whisper to her to shoot.

_Shoot._

And with that, a random bullet hit Annie's gun out of nowhere and threw it out of her hold, before she could even eact, Levi used that time to take Mikasa's hand and run away. _Did somebody just save them? _He wondered, and as much as he wanted to stay and figure out who was this person, he needed to get away as fast as possible.

"Fuck…" Annie cursed and picked up her gun quickly to rush after them, how _stupid_ and _irresponsible_ of her, they were right there in front of her, _right fucking there_, how could she waste this chance? She gritted her teeth in anger and pulled out her handheld transceiver to inform her partners about what had just happened. "There's a third hand apparently, someone has just shot me to help them escape."

"Are you okay, Annie?" Reiner responded while stepping out of the car with his two friends, cursing under his breath for being late.

"I'm fine, don't worry, they aimed at my gun so I wouldn't shoot them…You guys should move your asses and hurry though." She snickered.

"Right, sorry, we're on our way." He shrugged lightly then turned to his two friends. "We're gonna split, just in case." They nodded at him, he continued his way forward, while Bertholdt took the left way, and Berik took the right.

And it didn't take that long for the other units to join, surrounding the area completely, leaded by Erwin's strict orders; they should capture them in less than an hour. That was what they thought before an hour had passed already, and they still couldn't find a single trace, nothing at all, another hour passed, and another, and another, with no results, only squandering their energy, walking in an empty circle, not even one fucking clue on where they had disappeared.

"Erwin, we're wasting our time like this…we lost them." Hanji finally had the courage to speak, she had been keeping herself from saying anything to Erwin, knowing him, he must be raging on the inside, but for how long are they going to look for them in the same place?

"This can't be, they must be hiding somewhere in here, waiting for us to leave so they can get out and escape, I am not giving them this chance, this trick won't fool me all over again, Hanji." It hurt his pride to only think of being this close from capturing him and wasting _another_ chance.

"Someone helped them, Erwin, or else we would have already found them, maybe we have a traitor between us? I hate to say this, but of all the times we had been one step away from arresting him, he always manages to get away, someone has been helping him, informing him about our every move, and showing him the safest way to escape, instead of wasting our time here we should be looking for the traitor." Hanji had always doubted this, thousands of times but she never considered it seriously, she could entrust every single person in the department, there was no way she could accuse any of them with betrayal. However, coming to this point, and knowing that someone apparently was ready to kill? Annie in order to help Levi in his escape, it was time for her to think straight, this world always held surprises.

"I trust my men, Hanji." It was still hard to swallow for Erwin, she wouldn't blame him anyway.

"I trust them too, Erwin, and that is the whole point, we are trusting a traitor, that's why Levi always manages to get away, because we trust the person that is helping him, and we would never consider them as a traitor. It's time for us to open our eyes, if you want to catch Levi truly, step back for a while, and think logically, I told you, you shouldn't let this case get too personal, because it'll blind you from the truths that would help you reach your goal." Hanji rubbed the back of her head and shook it a little bit, glancing at Erwin whom eventually put his gun down and listened to her, she smiled, for once he was at least not arguing with her.

"Alright, we're retreating…" Disillusionment was filling his tone as he spoke, walking back with his empty hands once again, what a _shame._ Hanji frowned at his sight and followed him, she knew she couldn't say anything to comfort him for now, so she kept silent all the way, using that time to waste what was left of her energy, and find out who might the traitor be.

* * *

"W-Why is she so pale, and cold…?" Mikasa's frightened tone as she asked about the young girl lying in her lap made it even harder for Levi to explain.

"It's…" He sighed, "Well, she was…raped, and apparently drugged too, I'm afraid they gave her an overdose, because in that case, she won't survive, I'm not sure how long has it been, we could take her to the hospital but it still would be too late to do anything to save her." He had to tell her anyway, it's not like he had any other choice.

"_No_,…she can't die too. We didn't make all that risk out there to have everyone we were planning to save dying." Before the tears began to roll down her cheeks, she got up and carried the girl in her arms, "I'll take her to the hospital, they will do whatever it takes to save her, I don't fucking care."

Before she could go any further, Levi grabbed her hand and stopped her, she struggled to get away but his hold was tight around her arm, "It's too late now, Mikasa…she's already gone."

She knew, but how could she take it? How could she live with this guilt torturing her? Was she really that useless? All her life she had been confident of herself, she felt strong, so strong, stronger than everyone to the point she was looking down at all people who praised her as well as those who hated her, but ever since that night, everything changed, the night she had lost a fight against those gangsters, the night she was assaulted and left in the forest dying, she had given up at the moment she saw them taking those kids away from her and she couldn't stand up and fight for them, only watch, and hear their voices, they cried, screamed, called for her, nobody ever came to help though. And just when she thought she finally had a chance to prove her merit, she failed and perhaps made a bigger mistake which cost her innocent souls, she lost, and it was time for her…_to admit defeat._

Now she could _fall _to her knees and cry all she could, she could curse herself for being worthless, and she could herself for it, she could feel like the weakest creature on earth, a simple flaw would break her down, she could _fall _and allow someone to hold her against them, she could snuggle to them and hug them, cry into their chest because she had missed doing so, forgetting about her self-esteem, about her ego, for once she wanted to be nothing…

With the night fall, her eyes were starting to give up to sleep, fighting their heaviness for few more seconds, the wind blowing through her hair as her arms tightened around Levi's waist, using one of his shoulders as a pillow to rest her head on it, while resting her front against his back, he had been a gentleman and gave her his coat to wear since it was getting cold, and he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Will you teach me how to use a gun?" She mumbled the question softly before sleep got her, sure, now she wanted to be nothing, because when tomorrow comes, she will take back everything she had lost, and become stronger than she ever was, even if it meant _acquiescence _to him.

"Sure." Levi wasn't sure whether she asked him in full consciousness or she was just rambling in her sleep, but he was going to convince her sooner or later with learning things from him, things he knew she would need to survive this world as long as possible. As for now, he was driving away on this stolen motorcycle, leaving the town in hope for a better chance to live, even for one day, he needed a break, _they_ needed a break, because life always had them suffering.

_TBC_


End file.
